Woman, Baby Hurt in Crash With Calif. Fire Truck

Catherine Bowen On Oct 28, 2011

Oct. 27--A woman suffered minor injuries and was hospitalized along with her 5-month-old child Wednesday afternoon after her car collided with a fire truck in Fairfield.

With sirens and lights flashing, the Fairfield fire truck was responding to an emergency call around 2:35 p.m. when it made a left turn from Air Base Parkway onto Peabody Road in the path of an oncoming Chevy Malibu, according to Fairfield police Sgt. Matt Bloesch. The unidentified driver of the late-'90s-model sedan was driving on Peabody Road when she plowed into the side of the truck.

The Fairfield Traffic Unit is investigating the crash to "figure out how it happened and why it happened," Bloesch said before noting that fault has not yet been determined in the case.

"It's not a cut-and-dry, someone-ran-a-stoplight situation," he said, adding there are a number of factors to consider, including the speed the woman was driving and whether she was given sufficient time to stop.

"We have to take everything into consideration," Bloesch said.

At the road's posted 50 mph speed limit, Bloesch said the woman would have had an estimated second and a half to react to the truck pulling into her path -- one of the many statistics and measurements that investigating officers will have to take into account.

The woman suffered minor "non-life threatening injuries" and was taken by ambulance to nearby David Grant Medical Center and her child along with her, Bloesch said.

Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact the Fairfield Police Department's Traffic Unit at 428-7524.